VicAug 9, 2024
Christos Argyropoulos MD, PhD
The impact of the changes in the licensing terms of #anaconda on the academic use of #python in data science in general and bioinformatics in particular are going to be interesting to watch.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bioinformatics/s/lcxEeInCOS
Aug 9, 2024 at 12:57amWeb
Show threadIan SudberyAug 9, 2024

@ChristosArgyrop

Given that many bioconda env specs take FOREVER to solve in conda, we've been using minimamba for a while now. As mamba isn't compatible with the anaconda default channel, it is configured to use conda-forge by default instead. This seems like the way to go.

Show threadChristos Argyropoulos MD, PhDAug 9, 2024
@IanSudbery conda-forge is also controlled by Anaconda , no ? If so and the TOS were changed to monetize the relationship / reliance it is only a matter of time that all workarounds are eliminated. We are seeing the repetition of ActiveState 's power games with Perl from 20+ years ago methinks.
Show threadJonathan YuAug 9, 2024
@ChristosArgyrop @IanSudbery Whatever happened to ActiveState? Did those moves end up bankrupting them or something?
Show threadChristos Argyropoulos MD, PhDAug 9, 2024
@jawnsy @IanSudbery they are most definitely still around, they were bought last year, about 13.5-15M in sales vs 60M+ for Anaconda. Just pointing out some parallels , which are non unique when SaaS builds around FOSS.
Show threadIan SudberyAug 9, 2024

@ChristosArgyrop

conda-forge is hosted by Anaconda, but not owned/controlled/administered by them. They have no rights to change the ToS for conda-forge, although they *could* charge conda-forge for hosting, which they don't currently do. One would hope that if they were to do that, alternative hosting arrangements would be found.

Show threadChristos Argyropoulos MD, PhDAug 9, 2024
@IanSudbery if you host the resource, don't you control the resource?
Show threadIan SudberyAug 10, 2024
@ChristosArgyrop depends what you mean by control. Anaconda have no legal power to set policy, terms of service, licences etc for conda-forge - all they provide is disk space and bandwidth. Anaconda no more controls conda-forge than github does (which hosts the build recipes) or than Google Cloud Storage controls NCBI data. They could stop agreeing to host, but they couldn't prevent it being hosted elsewhere.
Show threadChristos Argyropoulos MD, PhDAug 10, 2024
@IanSudbery Control access means that they can make it unaffordable by slapping a fee to use their infrastructure to use it. Similar to what cable companies do with movies: they don't control the creation of the content , just control access
Show threadIan SudberyAug 11, 2024

@ChristosArgyrop

Yes, they could charge conda-forge/bioconda to use their infrastructure. We'd have to hope that in that case a different place world be found to host them.